'Big party' at Saginaw club preceded Sunday shooting that injured four

View full sizeJared Hamilton | The Saginaw News filesThe Lime Life Private Club -- known as the Lime Lite Club to most Saginaw residents -- received a business license from the city and resumed operations in June 2010.

SAGINAW — Four victims, four gunshot wounds and no eyewitness accounts of a gunman.

Someone opened fire with a “small-caliber” gun outside the establishment about 3 a.m., hitting three Saginaw men and one Saginaw woman, the police chief said.

“There was a big party going on and somebody started shooting,” Cliff said. “They heard shots fired but could not say who did the shooting. It’s going to take a while (to investigate) for this one.”

He said a 23-year-old female was shot in the leg while the men — aged 28, 30 and 34 — were shot in the leg, hip and back, respectively.

The former Lime Lite Club — once called Kayla’s Country Kitchen, and later, the Lime Life Social Club — has a history when it comes to investigations.

The social club — which had 200 registered members, club officials claimed — drew the attention of city officials and law enforcement after Stephon D. Brandon, 27, was fatally shot outside the club in November 2009.

Saginaw police responded to 122 disturbance calls there, including shootings, armed robberies and domestic crises, between March 2005 and the end of 2009, Saginaw police report.

From 2004 to 2009, the establishment received more than 80 Saginaw County Department of Public Health violations during at least 10 inspections, including a Sept. 7, 2006, inspection report indicating the discovery of rodent droppings and moldy food on site.

In April 2010, club owner Willie R. Copeland won a face-off in Saginaw County District Court after city officials claimed Copeland was conducting business without a license in the establishment. Copeland argued he and six members of the club’s Board of Directors were meeting to discuss club business.